Jack Higgins Books

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Henry Patterson is a renowned author who is best known for his pen name, Jack Higgins. Higgins is one of the world’s best-selling authors who specializes in espionage and thriller novels. The author’s breakthrough novel was titled Eagle Has Landed, and it managed to sell more than 50 million copies. The novel, Eagle has Landed, was later on adapted into a film under the same name. Some of the noticeable works by Jack Higgins include, The Eagle Has Flown, Thunder Point, Flight of The Eagles and The Day of Reckoning. All of his novels have managed to sell more than 150 million copies and have also been translated into more than 50 languages. Higgins was born as Henry Patterson in Newcastle upon Tyne. However, a few months after he was born, his father decided to abandon Higgins and his mother and Higgins together with his mother were forced to return to Belfast, which was their hometown.

The author Henry Patterson was born in the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north-east of England on July 27th 1929. However, shortly after his birth, due to his father leaving the family, Patteron’s mother relocated the family to the Shankhill Road area of Belfast in Northern Ireland to live with with his grandmother and great-grandfather. After several years in Northern Ireland, Patterson’s mother remarried, and the family again relocated, this time to Leeds, in Yorkshire.

After an average time in school, Patterson joined the British Army, serving in the Royal Horse Guards Regiment for two years. While serving in the Army, Patterson realised that he had far more potential than he was showing during his schooling, and went to the London School of Economics to study Sociology, gaining a third, then going on to gain a teaching qualification, after which he became a lecturer at Allerton Grange Secondary School in Leeds.

During his time as a teacher, Patterson began writing novels, and he gained considerable success in a short period of time. Patterson would use many pen names during this time, as well as his own name, including Hugh Marlowe, James Graham and Martin Fallon. He was prolific writing under these names, releasing several books a year, during which time he perfected his writing style that he has become known for in the world of espionage thrillers

His first five books were written under his own name, Sad Wind from the Sea, which was published in 1959, Cry of the Hunter, which was published in 1960, The Thousand Faces of Night, which was published in 1961, Comes the Dark Stranger, which was published in 1962, and then Hell is Too Crowded, which was also published in 1962.

Also in 1962, Patterson wrote his first book under the name Martin Fallon, and it was also the first to feature the iconic character of Paul Chavasse. Patterson would continue to write the Paul Chavasse series under the name Martin Fallon, writing six books in total.

In 1964, Patterson wrote Passage by Night, the first book he published under the pen name of Hugh Marlowe, the name coming from a character he created for The Thousand Faces of Night, his third book.

It wasn’t until 1966 that the first book was published under the name Jack Higgins, which was called The Iron Tiger. He also continued to write under his other pen names, but Jack Higgins was gaining more traction, and more and more books were being published under that name, as well as James Graham.

In the 1970s, Higgins wrote the iconic book The Eagle has Landed, which really cemented his position as one of Britain’s top fiction writers. There would be a couple of books published under Patterson’s own name, as well as Martin Fallon, but in 1980, Jack Higgins became the only name Patterson would use, due to the success of the ’70s. The Sean Dillon series of books would become the most prolific of Higgins’ characters, with Eye of the Storm, the first book in the Sean Dillon series, published in 1992.

As well as being a prolific writer of novels, many of Higgins’ books have been made into films, including The Eagle Has Landed, which starred Donald Sutherland, and A Prayer for the Dying, which starred Mickey Rourke.

Due to the fact that Patterson was raised in the middle of the political and religious violence in Belfast, he was able to read when he was only three years old. During nighttime, Patterson would crouch underneath a window and read books using the street light. It did not take long before his mother remarried once again and they ended up relocating to Leeds. While residing at Leeds, Patterson attended the Grammar School for Boys. Patterson proved to be an exceedingly unique student, and he ended up leaving the Grammar Scholl with several formal qualifications. In the year 1947, Patterson began serving under the National Service. Patterson served twice, first under the East Yorkshire Regiment while the second time with the Royal Horse Guards as a commissioned Officer.

While serving in the military, Patterson discovered that he had extraordinary sharp shooting skills. In the year 1959, Patterson began penning down novels. One of his pen names was James Graham. Due to the sudden popularity of his works, Jack Higgins could afford to take some time away from teaching. I t did not take long before he became a full-time writer. Jack Higgins earliest novels which were either written using his real names or using his pseudonyms of Martin Fallon, Hugh Marlowe, and James Graham were basically thrillers which featured cynical and hardened heroes, dangerous locales and ruthless heroes. Between the year 1959 and the year 1974, Patterson published a total of thirty-five novels which followed his writing routine. Some of his earliest outstanding works include The Savage Day, A Game for Heroes and East of Desolation, which was published in the year 1968.

During the late 1960’s Patterson began using his pen name, Jack Higgins. While studying at the London-School of Economics, Patterson met one Amy Hewett. It did not take long before the two got married after he received a 210-dollar advance on his very first novel. The advance happened to be the biggest wedding present that the couple received. Patterson and Amy were blessed with four children Sarah who was born in the year 1960, Ruth who was born in the year 1962, Sean who was born in the year 1965 and Hannah who was born in the year 1974.

Jack Higgins Awards

Jack Higgins is yet to receive any major literary award.

Jack Higgins Books into Movies

Some of the books by Jack Higgins have been adapted for screenplay include Thunder Point, On Dangerous Ground, Midnight Man and Night of the Fox.

Best Jack Higgins Books

Eye of the Storm: One of the best books by Jack Higgins is Eye of the Storm. In Eye of the Storm, the author introduces the reader to Sean Dillon who is an exceedingly bad man. Sean Dillon is a former IRA gunman, and now, he is hired as an assassin for any intelligence agency or terrorist group that would be able to meet his price tag. In this thriller, the man who has met Dillon’s asking price is Saddam Hussein, who happens to be Iraqi’s dictator. Hussein is more than determined to show both his allies and enemies that he can strike at any time in any country.

Dillon’s main task is to attack the Britain’s war cabinet, during the cabinet’s daily briefing. However, the British Intelligence is aware that Dillon would be conducting the attack. The only problem is the Sean Dillon is a ghost. There are no existing photos of him, and furthermore, no one knows how he looks like. With that said, this is a well-written thriller that will keep you hooked.

Jack Higgins FAQs

Q: What nationality is the author Jack Higgins?

A: Jack Higgins is a British author, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Q: What is Jack Higgins’ first book?

A: The first book published under the name Jack Higgins was The Iron Tiger. However, the author Harry Patterson, who writes under the name Jack Higgins, had his first novel published in 1959, which was called Sad Wind from the Sea.

Q: What is the real name of Jack Higgins?

A: Jack Higgins is the pen name of the author Harry Patterson.

When Does The Next Jack Higgins book come out?

Jack Higgins doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Midnight Bell and was released on December, 27th 2016. It is the newest book in the Sean Dillon Series.

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